How Do You Pronounce "char"? A Poll

[yordan 10]

I think that everyone says it differently, and there is no right or wrong way to say it.

As usual, the correct way to pronouce that is : my way.More seriously, as usual in such a case, people around you expect that you pronounce it a certain way, and you have to learn this way, until you switch to another room with other people and pronounce it differently.

[Unregistered 0111405241546 0]

I pronounce it charr, but sometimes I say car. Care doesn't really sound right to me.. I've herd somebody say it like chair haha.

[jtmcpherson 0]

i believe it's prounounced charr as in characteristics, or maybe character. the both derrive from the same word so i don't think it'll make a big difference. it does'nt matter how you say it if you type it unless you have to read it. now does it?

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

I pronounce it "char" because that's according to phonetics.xboxrulz

[skedad 0]

I know that it is short for character, but while in Programming classes, my instructor always called it char, just like it's spelled. (Charr)Of course, there were so many different shorthand and camel casing styles that I am glad it stood out from the original word... That make any sense!? I am typing on a few hours of sleep!But now that char is brought up, I wish I was back in that class again... Oh how time flies!

[sublimino 0]

In my opinion it's best pronounced as it's spelt - char. This is because computing is complicated enough to teach without bringing pronounciation into the equation!

[iGuest 3]

I've never really thought of pronouncing it any other way than "car". It's the start of the word "character" which has a silent h, so I use a silent h in char.

[Mordent 0]

You see, now we have a problem. The first syllable in "character" to me is pronounced "kah", not "car/kar". I'm English, so that could be where the conflict comes in. Again, I can't for the life of me remember what all the accents are, or where they're supposed to go, so I'm going to have to just try and make them as clear as possible:character: kah-ruhk-tercarrot: kah-ruhtchar: charrcaring: kaer-ingcare: kaercar: karrI stuck a few other words in there so you can compare them. The first syllable of "character" is the same as the first syllable of "carrot". The word "char" (as in the shortened version of "character" used in programming) I say as it looks (the same way I say "charcoal"). This "care" thing just doesn't make sense to me at all. It uses the "k" sound, which I can go with, but it neither sounds like a shortened version of "character" (which would be "kah"), and I can't see the "-are" (pronounced like "air", right?) sound becoming involved in this at all.As for "car", it sounds too long to be a "kah" sound, and it's got the 'r' on the end. I have to ask, what about other words that are shortened versions of longer words? File extensions might be interesting.How would you say "filename.doc" to someone? I'd say the extension as it sounds, so "dock". Same with "config.ini" ("config dot in-ee"). What about "readme.txt"? I say "readme dot text", as it flows nicely, even though I hear quite a lot of "readme dot tee ex tee"s out there. Image files are a bit odd, such as "photo.jpg". As that one's a slightly shorter version of ".jpeg" I say "photo dot jay peg". How about "file.gif"? Is it "giff", "jiff" or "jee iye eff"?The only file extension that's a shortened version of a word that describes the actual file I can think of that I say each letter for is ".bmp" ("bee em pee"), as "dot bitmap" just doesn't sound right. ".mp3" is obvious, but what about ".wav"? Is it "dot wave" or "dot wav"? It's strange to think that people who speak the same language but with different accents (Brits and Americans, for example) say the same thing in a different way, so I can imagine it becomes a nightmare if English isn't your first language.

[vujsa 0]

Well, since you pointed out that different native English speakers pronounce English words differently, I guess I can understand how you came up with your pronunciation. :blink:But, wouldn't the first "a" be long since there is only a single consonant before the second "a"?Long "a" followed by an "r" is pronounce the same as "air"? At least we agree the the "ch" in this case is a hard "k" sound like in "care".I guess it depends on which syllable you place the "r" in. I include the "r" with the first syllable but I see that you place it in the second syllable.I suppose that well need to have a Canadian moderate this topic. :Dvujsa

[Mordent 0]

Well, since you pointed out that different native English speakers pronounce English words differently, I guess I can understand how you came up with your pronunciation.
But, wouldn't the first "a" be long since there is only a single consonant before the second "a"?
Long "a" followed by an "r" is pronounce the same as "air"?

At least we agree the the "ch" in this case is a hard "k" sound like in "care".

I guess it depends on which syllable you place the "r" in. I include the "r" with the first syllable but I see that you place it in the second syllable.
I suppose that well need to have a Canadian moderate this topic.

vujsa

'tis true. Brits, Americans, Canadians, Australians all speak English, but it's the whole "tomato" thing all over again. It's no wonder people who speak, say, French have a hard time working out how to say words.

Still, us English invented the language (well...kind of), so you're all pronouncing it wrong.

[yordan 10]

Still, us English invented the language (well...kind of

OK, that's clear, you invented the language.However, which language ? Your language ?
Please could you clarify a little bit ?
When you say "us English", what do you mean by the "us" word ?
- USA English (American English) ?
- We, British People, speaking British English ?
Because I'm afraid the people who invented the first language did not directly speak English, at least not exactly the American current one.

[Mordent 0]

OK, that's clear, you invented the language.However, which language ? Your language ?
Please could you clarify a little bit ?
When you say "us English", what do you mean by the "us" word ?
- USA English (American English) ?
- We, British People, speaking British English ?
Because I'm afraid the people who invented the first language did not directly speak English, at least not exactly the American current one.

I say "us" English, as in "us English people". I'm from England.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't American English a slight tweaking of British English? Sure, British English is by no means the first "English" language (as it was based on others), but isn't it the "first" English?

[yordan 10]

Thanks. I just wanted to clarify this point. Usually I see U.S. English, like "Unitited States English", that's why I wanted to know if "us" was a mistyping for U.S. or was just simply stating "we", "ourselves".And, of course, I think the first language was invented by the first baby shouting in order to get some milk. That's another history, we will clarify this as soon as my time machine will start working correctly.RegardsYordan

[uNiT 0]

Hmm interesting. I've always pronounced it similar to character. More like a care or a car I suppose. I've been through a programming class and my instructor also pronounced it "car". Charr just sounds plain odd to me, but I guess if thats the official pronunciation, then its what should be used. Personally, I'll probably continue to pronounce it as a short for character, but I've never realized something as such could have so many ways to say it

[A W K1405241550 0]

I pronounce it 'ch-are'. (Ch as in charge and are as in car). It seems good if you say it as a seperate word. I've never heard of someone saying it as in 'care' or 'car'. My friend thought it was 'chair' once.